Binkalette
Senior Member
Posts: 139
Joined: Sat Mar 13, 2010 11:53 pm
Location: Minnesota - zone 4a

Fern Peony

I posted this on the flower forum, but now I think it might have been a better idea to post it here.. hope that's ok. :)

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My Grandma gave me this Fern Peony last spring when we moved into our house, I planted it right away in late May. Our soil is pretty much all clay, but I mixed a bunch of peat moss together with the clay before putting it back into the hole. It didn't do a whole lot last year (at least not above the surface) and then turned brown, shriveled up and.... blew away. I was horrified and thought I had killed it some how, but then I read online that it was supposed to do that. I mulched over the area in the fall and let it be.

Now this spring it is coming back up! I'm very happy that it survived it's first winter. :) Now, what can I do to help it out? I really don't know anything about their care. Will it shrivel up every year and start from scratch at ground level, or does it eventually grow wood that stays? I keep finding conflicting information online. One site said not to EVER prune a fern peony as it will never grow back. What kind of fertilizer do they like?? I'm read 5-10-10? What would that be in terms of organic fertilizers? I don't like to use the chemical ones much.

Thanks for any help! And here's a picture of the little thing:

[img]https://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l208/Binkalette/IMG_1896.jpg[/img]

MaineDesigner
Green Thumb
Posts: 439
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2006 11:17 am
Location: Midcoast Maine, Zone 5b

Your peony is alive and seems healthy so that is good news. The Fern-Leaf Peony is a herbaceous perennial. It will never develop a woody stem. Do you know if your grandmother divided a peony she owned or purchased this plant? You can plant potted peonies at almost any time, although late May would not have been my first choice, so long as reasonable care is taken to minimize root disturbance. If you are transplanting or dividing herbaceous peonies or planting bare root plants fall is the only really good time, September or early October is usually preferred in Minnesota.
As far as planting goes, poor drainage is the worst enemy of peonies. Since they are very long lived and hate to be disturbed I usually spend quite a bit of time considering siting and doing some serious, deep, soil prep. In soils with a substantial clay content I probably would have bermed up the planting and added quite a bit of compost. Peat moss wouldn't have been my first choice but it should be alright. Many of the early peonies with some P. tenuifolia ancestry tend to go dormant early, especially if they get too hot or too dry. I prefer situations where the plant gets full sun from dawn until mid-afternoon and then passes into shade, but full sun all day or light dappled shade will also work in northern climates. The other key factor is not to plant too deep. If the eyes are more than 1-1/2 to 2" below the soil surface the plant will grow but not bloom or bloom only sparsely. Usually peonies don't need a great deal of supplementary fertilizer and there is some controversy about optimum timing. I tend to use Espoma Plant-tone in early September.
The Minnesota Peony Society is very active and the American Peony Society national convention will be in Janesville, Wisconsin this year June 3 - 6. If you are interested in peonies you might want to consider joining the APS [url]https://www.americanpeonysociety.org/[/url].



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